Pair of run-rule wins at Coahoma strengthens EMCC's lead atop MACJC North Division softball standings
The Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College maintained their one-game lead atop the MACJC's North Division softball standings by sweeping Coahoma Community College, 18-2 and 13-0, in a pair of run-ruled road decisions Saturday afternoon.
CLARKSDALE – The Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College maintained their one-game lead atop the MACJC's North Division softball standings by sweeping Coahoma Community College, 18-2 and 13-0, in a pair of run-ruled road decisions Saturday afternoon.
With three of their four remaining division doubleheaders coming on the road, head coach Kyndall White's EMCC Lady Lions enter the week with a 12-4 division mark and 19-15 overall record. One full game ahead of both Northeast Mississippi Community College and Itawamba Community College in the current division standings, the Lady Lions travel to Booneville for a key Wednesday twin bill against the Lady Tigers.
Saturday in Clarksdale, EMCC combined for 22 hits offensively in the doubleheader road sweep over Coahoma and received complete-game pitching efforts from Halie Green and Amelia LaVergne. Both Louisiana natives raised their team-leading pitching records to 6-5 on the season.
In the opener, a six-run second inning for the Lady Lions was highlighted by sophomore Amber Spann's club-leading fourth home run of the year – a three-run blast that followed Abby Roberts' lead-off double and a walk to Jade Albritton. Haley Tutor and Meri Morgan Fortune also had run-scoring singles in the inning.
After scoring three more runs in the fourth on only two hits, the Lady Lions sent 15 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, scoring nine times and putting the run rule into effect. Substitutes Kendal Carpenter and Angel Johnson contributed run-producing doubles in the frame, while Spann knocked in her fifth run of the game with an RBI single.
Spann, a product of Clarkdale High School, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the five RBIs in the opener, while Fortune and Roberts also had two hits apiece to lead EMCC's 13-hit team effort in game one.
In the circle, Green scattered three hits over five innings while striking out five and not issuing a walk in notching her sixth win of the year. The Lafayette, La., native only allowed an unearned run in the first and a solo home run in the fourth en route to going the distance.
As in the opener, the Lady Lions built a comfortable lead during the early innings of the nightcap before putting the run rule into effect in the fifth inning. After plating three runs during the opening frame without the luxury of a hit, EMCC's four-run third inning was highlighted by back-to-back, RBI doubles from Corey Dawkins and Taylor Hackney.
Another big fifth inning saw the Lady Lions send 11 batters to the plate as they scored six more times with the aid of five hits. Along with Misty Richard's run-scoring double, Dawkins capped a 3-for-4 hitting effort in the nightcap with an RBI single.
Finishing an effective afternoon in the circle for the Lady Lions, LaVergne struck out seven Coahoma hitters without allowing a walk during her five-inning stint. The Rayne, La., native gave up just four singles in the contest on the way to recording her sixth victory of the season and first complete-game shutout of her collegiate career.